This invention relates to protective shipping materials, and more particularly for a protective shipper for bottles, such as wine bottles.
In the wine industry, shipping of bottles of wine is an issue. In order to minimize cost, it is important to reduce the amount of time needed to pack a 12 bottle case of wine for shipping. Currently, primarily foam shipping protectors are employed, which comprise two (typically) blocks of foam that fit together, the interior thereof defining receiving zones for the wine bottles.
However, the foam packaging takes up a great deal of space, as it cannot be shrunk or nested together for shipping or storage prior to use. Many wine sellers are retail establishments, where space is at a premium. To store a large number of foam shippers becomes expensive, as the space to store shipping materials prior to use would be better used for display of revenue producing products or for storage of higher value items. Further, foam is perceived as environmentally unfriendly, and recycling of foam is not widespread.
The aesthetic appearance of a wine bottle is important to the consumer and retailer. If the labeling on the bottle is abraded or otherwise scraped or damaged during shipping, then the value of the bottle, or its perceived value, is reduced. It is therefore important that the packaging materials employed during shipping provide protection against breakage of the bottles, while not resulting in abrasion or damage to the bottle labels.